Bible translations (Finnish)

The first Finnish translation of the New Testament was Mikael Agricola's "Se Wsi Testamenti Somexi" (The New Testament in Finnish), which was translated from Greek originals into Finnish in 1548. Agricola is today considered the father of the Finnish written language.

The first translation of the whole Bible was the so-called "Vanha kirkkoraamattu" (Old Church Bible), titled "Biblia, Se on: Coco Pyhä Ramattu Suomexi". This edition was translated by a committee led by Bishop Erik Rothovius 1638-1641, and published 1642. It was revised 1683-1685 (Florinus).

As the Finnish written and spoken language evolved during the centuries and literacy became commonplace also amongst the laypeople, need for a new edition arose. The so-called "Biblia" or "Vuoden 1776 raamattu" (Year 1776 Bible) was published in 1776. It was the first edition meant not only to ecclestical but also to domestic use, and first written in Modern Finnish. It was revised 1859. The 1776 Bible is the version used by two revival movements (the Laestadians and the "Beseechers") within the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland even today. This is because it, unlike the newer translations, is based on the Textus Receptus, as is, for instance, the King James Version.

Again a new translation was needed in the early 20th century, and a committee for translation was set 1911. It had its work ready 1933. Full edition of Bible was published in 1938. This edition is often referred as "Vuoden 1938 kirkkoraamattu" (year 1938 Church Bible). It was translated by the Finnish Lutheran Church, and intended to Lutheran use. As the translationary principle was "one source language word - one Finnish word", its text is very archaizing, and it uses dialectal terms obsolete even during the era. The 1938 edition consisted of Old Testament, deuterocanonicals and New Testament.

The latest official Finnish translation dates to 1992, the so-called "Uusi kirkkoraamattu" (New Church Bible). It is the first Finnish ecumenical edition; the translation committee consisted not only of the representants of the Finnish Lutheran Church, but also of academics and representants of Finnish Orthodox Church and Finnish Catholic Church, and is intended to use of all Christian denominations. the principle of 1992 edition is contextual translation; instead of verbatim translation, translation in context has been attempted as accurately as possible. The initial edition consisted of only New and Old Testament: the translation of the Old Testament deuterocanonicals were finished only 2004.

Of the non-official Finnish translations the most important is "Uuden Maailman käännös" (New World Translation) used by Jehovah's Witnesses. The principle in translation of this edition has been same as on 1938 edition: as verbatim translation as possible. Unfortunately the translation of the "Uuden Maailman käännös" has been done from English instead of original Aramaic and Greek, making the edition somewhat inaccurate. It should be noted that the New World Translation is considered by experts [Robert H. Countess, The Jehovah's Witnesses' New Testament: a Critical Analysis of the New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures (2nd ed. Phillipsburg, New Jersey: Presbyterian and Reformed Pub. Co., 1987)] [Bruce M. Metzger, "The New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures." The Bible Translator 15/3 (July 1964), pp. 150-153] [Bruce M. Metzger, "The Jehovah's Witnesses and Jesus Christ: A Biblical and Theological Appraisal." Theology Today 10 (1953): 65-85] [Raymond V. Franz, Crisis of Conscience (Atlanta: Commentary Press, 1983). Contains a number of interesting remarks on the New World Translation] to be a "heretical" version containing obvious faults in translation primarily of an eisegetical nature due to their rejection of many of the [http://www.apologeticsindex.org/159-chart-of-essential-doctrines-of-christianity central doctrines of Christianity] , such as the deity of Christ.

Comparison

References

External links

* [ftp://ftp.funet.fi/pub/doc/bible/finnish/1992/Raamattu.html 1992 Finnish Bible online]